3 arrested in '07 gang stabbing

SANTA BARBARA — Santa Barbara police finally closed in on three suspects of a gang-related attack that occurred on city streets in 2007.

Lt. Paul McCaffrey, public Information officer for the Santa Barbara Police Department, announced on Friday the arrests of Ruben Mize, 17, Carlos Lopez, 17, and Jacob Medina, 19, on grounds of attempted murder with criminal street gang enhancements.

All three are reported to be members of a gang operating on the city’s east side, and will be tried as adults in spite of their ages on Sept. 20, 2007, when they were allegedly involved in the unprovoked stabbing attack of another youth.

Suffering more than 30 stab wounds, the victim of the bloody assault was walking home from a local basketball game when he was surrounded by the suspects and summarily attacked. Stabbed viciously in the back, chest and neck, the victim was left for dead. Bleeding profusely, the victim eventually made his way to his home where others summoned police.
Two years of vigorous investigation into local gang violence ensued, focusing on organized gang activity that has plagued the city since 2006 and which has claimed the lives of three victims.

McCaffrey indicated that there were few concrete leads in the case until authorities organized Operation Gator Roll in November 2008, targeting specific gang-related individuals and yielding 160 felony arrests to date. At that point, the flow of credible leads increased, ultimately leading to the arrests of Mize, Lopez and Medina last week.

Mize is well known to local police, as he also faces charges in Santa Maria for felony assault, murder and multiple charges of attempted murder.